Eagles Clinch East

Wearing green “The East Is Not Enough” T-shirts and division champion baseball caps, the Philadelphia Eagles showed off their dance moves in the visiting locker room. A group of backups, reserves and former practice squad players helped the team secure a playoff berth.

The NFL playoffs begin next weekend, and the Eagles will be there. In a win-and-they’re-in scenario, the Eagles (9-7) beat the New York Giants, 34-17, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday evening to clinch the NFC East title.ADVERTISING

Five weeks ago, the Eagles left Miami with a loss that felt like the knockout punch. Instead, the Birds rang off four straight wins to win the division. They’re headed to the postseason riding a wave of momentum, even if it was not always pretty along the way.

Carson Wentz, one week after proving he’s capable of winning a big game, followed up with another strong performance. Wentz finished 23 of 40 for 289 yards and one touchdown.

Wentz became the first quarterback in Eagles history to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a season, setting a franchise record with 4,039 yards. He’s also the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards without a single 500-yard wide receiver.

Carson Wentz led the Eagles to four straight must-wins and the team finished an elimination game without seven starters on offense.

“We’re still hungry,” Wentz said. “We’re not done yet.”

The Eagles host the Seattle Seahawks (11-5) in a wild-card game at 4:40 p.m. next Sunday. The Eagles lost, 17-9, to Seattle in Week 12.

“I don’t care who it is,” tight end Dallas Goedert said. “They have to come to our house and we have to protect it.”

Already missing three starting wide receivers for the fourth straight game, the Eagles also began the game without Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz and right tackle Lane Johnson. Then they lost running back Miles Sanders and three-time Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks in the first half.

But Boston Scott, Josh Perkins, Greg Ward, Deontay Burnett and Robert Davis combined for 16 catches on 25 targets, 225 yards receiving, 54 yards rushing and four TDs. The five players were cut a combined eight times by four teams since Aug. 31.

“You never want injuries but for these guys coming from the practice squad, the journeys they’ve been on, it makes it that much sweeter,” Wentz said.

The Eagles are in the playoffs for the third straight season but Wentz will make his first postseason start. He was sidelined after knee surgery in 2017 when Nick Foles led Philadelphia to its first Super Bowl title. He was injured again last year when Foles took the Eagles to the divisional round.

After the Eagles took a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter, the turning point came on the Giants’ first play on the ensuing drive. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins stripped Giants QB Daniel Jones after a bad snap, which resulted in Fletcher Cox recovering inside the Giants’ 5-yard line.

Scott punched it in for his second TD as the Eagles went up, 27-17, after scoring 10 points in less than a minute.

The Birds didn’t look back.